July 4, 2009
Oliver Cromwell, ruler of Britain after the monarchy was temporarily overthrown, told the Catholics of Ireland to go "to hell or Connacht".
The island of Ireland is split into four provinces: Ulster, Munster, Leinster, and Connacht. Ulter is commonly associated with Northern Ireland, but the province of Ulster is actually divided between the two separate governments. Six counties belong to the United Kingdom, and the remaining three belong to the Republic. Leinster contains Dublin and most of the east coast. Munster contains the southwest of the country, including Kerry and Dingle. Connacht is the northwest part of Ireland and contains Galway, Sligo, and the majority of the Gaelic speaking population.
Cromwell forced Irish Catholics to Connacht because of its poor living conditions. The terrain is rocky and the soil is only suitable for grazing cattle. Much of the country's poorest lived in Connacht and it was hardest hit area during the Great Famine.
We were taken on a guided tour of Connemara, a peninsula in Connacht known for its natural beauty: the Twelve Bens (a mountain range), Killary Harbour (Ireland's only fjord), lakes, and bog lands.
We started the tour with a small stop at the Connemara Marble Visitor Centre. The region is famous for its marble mines. Green is by far the most popular colour, but the mines also produce black, opal, and rose coloured marble. Amethyst is also mined in Connemara, and combined, they are used to make jewelry and other souvenirs. The mines used to supply marble for big projects (the last big project was to construct the entire floor of the Galway Cathedral with Connemara marble), but they are being quickly depleted. Now, only small bits of marble are mined for use in small gifts. I bought a lovely bracelet of green marble and amethyst, alternating between the symbol of the Trinity.
A picture of the workshop behind the marble shop. The model for Christ was interesting, but the small bust of JFK makes this indistinguishably Irish.
Connemara. The low clouds barely brushed the tops of Twelve
Bens. Our tour guide repeatedly said that the beauty of the ever-changing faces of the mountains never failed to surprise him.
Killary Harbor, Ireland's only fjord. Perhaps it is not as jaw-dropping as Milford Sound, but still quite beautiful. It's a shame that we only got a small glimpse of it. The little rows visible in the water (first picture) are actually mussel cultures.
We stopped at Kylemore Abbey for lunch. The abbey was original a mansion built by Mitchell Henry, a wealthy politician who was MP of Galway. Mitchell Henry married Margaret Vaughan and on their honeymoon, they travelled to Connemara. Margaret, upon seeing the land, said she wished she could live here. The mansion was built, and since then, it has passed through several hands until it was purchased by Benedictine nuns who escaped Belgium during World War I. Today, the abbey houses an international girls boarding school. The nuns decided to close the school in 2010 but they will continue to live there.
Kylemore Abbey.
A view of the valley in which
Kylemore Abbey sits. The building is just to the right of this picture.
Both of the pictures above are looking outward across the lake from the abbey. Despite the slight showers we had received earlier on the tour, the day turned nice (for a while).
The Victorian Garden of
Kylemore Abbey. This is a picture of the vegetable patch.
There was not much to see inside the abbey itself. There were some lovely walks through the gardens and the trees beside the house, but as always, we didn't have enough time to explore. So after a quick tour of the gardens, we hopped back on the bus to complete the tour.
We had two small photo stops after lunch, but many of the pictures are similar to the ones above. We reached Dublin in the later afternoon and had a little while to explore before an Independence Day celebration dinner at a local restaurant.
When searching for a place such as Dublin or
Galway in Google Maps, the
webpage will display little thumbnail pictures on the right-hand side. One of the pictures for
Galway was a picture of the interior of
Galway Cathedral. After seeing that picture, I decided that I had to go in for myself. I took a
simliar picture to the one I saw, although I think that one had better lighting. Needless to say, it was a very beautiful cathedral, with its complete marble floor, high columns, and a lovely ornate organ.
I also managed to complete some shopping for souvenirs and gifts. After wandering around the in the rain for a bit, I walked to the restaurant with the rest of our group. I don't know if we stick out that much, but we were wished a happy 4th of July as we headed down the street. There was a 4th of July celebration in Galway and I even saw a group of cheerleaders dressed in red, white, and blue. Dinner was interesting - I had legitimate, vegetarian Indian food. It was topped off with dessert - ice cream or cheesecake. They even put little sparklers in our dessert, so everyone ooh-ed and ahh-ed until they went out.
Overall impressions: Connemara is indeed beautiful, as pretty as any other part of the Irish countryside. Perhaps it is not "scenically beautiful" in the same way the Killarney and Wicklow are. Unlike the former, there are not many trees in Connemara and the earth is not only composed of green, but also of gray rocks peeking above the ground.
Connemara is a top tourist destination, but it somehow feels much quieter than other places I have been to. The land looks undisturbed, unassuming, and unchanging. I would have been fine just sitting somewhere and watching the shadow of the clouds move across the land. I felt that I couldn't do justice to the land with my camera, especially while sitting behind a dirty window.
I also couldn't help but feel a lingering sense of sadness. This is by no means a forgotten part of the country, but it did house the poor and dispossessed when they had no where else to go. And when the famine pushed them even farther out, across the ocean, to seek a better life, they must have been reluctant to leave. It was their homeland and they must have loved it, even though it failed to sustain them. I cannot imagine leaving such a beautiful place to arrive on the crowded shores of a place where people did not welcome them.
I will also say that I never want to sit on another bus again. I absolutely hate coach bus tours because 1) the long drive is somewhat uncomfortable 2) we sit for the majority of the day 3) we never stop for a decent amount of time at any place 4) it is the quick and easy way to "see" a place. I don't know how it's possible to say that I really saw Connemara. Yes, I saw the beautiful landscape, but I didn't spend any time there.
Perhaps the one good thing about coach tours is that they pick a good route. The next time I visit Ireland, I know what to see. The next time, I will hire a car or go backpacking.
(P.S. This was probably the hardest post to write. Every time I logged on to work on it, some part of it would get erased. I tell you, I had to rewrite parts of this at least 3 or 4 times.)
A picture of the workshop behind the marble shop. The model for Christ was interesting, but the small bust of JFK makes this indistinguishably Irish.
Connemara. The low clouds barely brushed the tops of Twelve Bens. Our tour guide repeatedly said that the beauty of the ever-changing faces of the mountains never failed to surprise him.
Killary Harbor, Ireland's only fjord. Perhaps it is not as jaw-dropping as Milford Sound, but still quite beautiful. It's a shame that we only got a small glimpse of it. The little rows visible in the water (first picture) are actually mussel cultures.
Kylemore Abbey.
A view of the valley in which Kylemore Abbey sits. The building is just to the right of this picture.
Both of the pictures above are looking outward across the lake from the abbey. Despite the slight showers we had received earlier on the tour, the day turned nice (for a while).
The Victorian Garden of Kylemore Abbey. This is a picture of the vegetable patch.
When searching for a place such as Dublin or Galway in Google Maps, the webpage will display little thumbnail pictures on the right-hand side. One of the pictures for Galway was a picture of the interior of Galway Cathedral. After seeing that picture, I decided that I had to go in for myself. I took a simliar picture to the one I saw, although I think that one had better lighting. Needless to say, it was a very beautiful cathedral, with its complete marble floor, high columns, and a lovely ornate organ.
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